


Like a River Flows

by an_aphorism



Series: Hush [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Intimacy, Kinda?, Kissing, M/M, New Relationship, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Romance, Slow Dancing, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 02:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_aphorism/pseuds/an_aphorism
Summary: Strong arms curl around Keith’s waist, pulling him back into Shiro’s solid warmth.“…in love with you,” Shiro croons into his ear along with the song.





	Like a River Flows

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was written to go with this playlist: 
> 
> https://8tracks.com/anaphor/hushh
> 
> [ Spotify link ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7CAXKwIOU49XC3oHUSXeNG?si=ZplH3GJETACHKexfK9FRTQ)

After that night and morning, Keith never goes back to his own bed. In the end it was as simple as breathing. Shiro had taken his hand the next night when they’d finished up dinner, and lead him back to his room.

Their room, now.

A week later Keith hasn’t moved all of his stuff over yet, but it’s not a problem. One by one as he uses or needs his things, they end up in Shiro’s. His clothes in the closet beside Shiro’s, his hair ties and earbuds on the bedside stand with Shiro’s pens and scrap paper. It’s charming and sort of magical to see, their things blending seamlessly together.

As if it’s always been this way, as if they are finally falling back into an equilibrium they didn’t know they needed.

Keith hums happily to himself now as he finishes washing the dishes. Shiro’s just gone out to get them something sweet, so Keith considers it a fair trade to get the dishes done. Shiro hates dishes, and Keith always gets an extra peck on the cheek when he does Shiro’s turn for him.

There’s just a few forks left when he hears the slide of the door and Shiro’s footsteps. Keith's heart flutters. It’s silly, Shiro’s been gone for about ten minutes, but he just can’t help himself. Shiro’s his _boyfriend,_ and has just come back to their apartment with a dessert that they will curl up on the couch in the dim evening light and enjoy together.

Just the image of it has him smiling down at the sudsy water. He rinses the last of the forks and sets them aside to dry.

In the living room he hears Shiro move about and then…

[Music.](https://8tracks.com/anaphor/hushh) (alt. [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7CAXKwIOU49XC3oHUSXeNG?si=ZplH3GJETACHKexfK9FRTQ))

It’s soft, turned low, and at first Keith doesn’t think anything of it. Shiro’s often humming a tune or putting on a workout playlist to get himself pumped up.

But this isn’t that. Instead of pop, the first few notes are delicate, a single piano. It’s beautiful and the sound catches Keith somewhere in his chest.

The voice of a woman starts to sing, melodic and soulful.

Keith reaches for the towel to dry his hands. He knows this song, if not well he’s at least heard it in passing. He’s heard it in videos of weddings, in films full of romance—

Strong arms curl around Keith’s waist, pulling him back into Shiro’s solid warmth.

“…in love with you,” Shiro croons into his ear along with the song.

Keith’s whole body flushes at once and he shivers with it. The arms hold him tight though, and he sighs it out as Shiro drops a delicate kiss on his neck.

They waiver there for a moment, and then Keith is being turned, almost spun, to face Shiro. Immediately his arms slip up around Shiro’s neck, hooking there. Keeping him close.

“Hi,” Keith says when they’re face to face, Shiro’s hands resting on his waist.

“Hello,” Shiro smiles then and it’s nearly everything. It makes Keith’s heart flip, and he feels so foolishly shy.

It shouldn’t still be like this, like they’re kids on the playground finally figuring out how to tell each other about their crush.

But Shiro just does it to him. Makes him feel young and old, excited and so, so safe.

Shiro kisses his cheek and then, right on cue sings, “take my hand, take my whole life too.”

And Keith is powerless against it. Their hands come together as well as their hips. Shiro starts a gentle sway to the music.

“I don’t—“ Keith goes to protest because he doesn’t dance, doesn’t even know how to.

“I know.” Shiro says. But he doesn’t let go and he doesn’t stop. He leads, and Keith follows.

Keith’s followed Shiro to the ends of the universe and back, so to do this now is nothing.

The thought startles a soft huff of laughter out of him. It’s barely a sound, but they’re so close now that Shiro hears it. He squeezes one of Keith’s hands, looking just as amused even if he doesn’t know the joke.

_Stars_, Keith loves this man.

The light in the kitchen has started to dim as they move and the tilt of Shiro’s mouth has everything to do with it. Keith wants to kiss it.

There’s been a hundred kisses or more in the last week, but every one still feels like the first and the last. They catch Keith’s breath and make him ache for more.

Keith tilts his head up, an obvious offer. Shiro’s eyes are dark and lovely and although he looks, he does not lean down the rest of the way to close the space. Their noses bump and they sway.

Keith is caught in the spell. He doesn’t even mind that Shiro is holding out because the ache is just as good. The tension weaves around them, thick but warm. It doesn’t carry fear or doubt, it’s more of a tease. Shiro turns them in slow circles, nudging their noses together and it’s a promise.

_Follow me,_ it says. _Take my hand and let me draw this out. _

And Keith doesn’t even need the words to know it, to understand it. They know what they are to each other, they know this is _it. _

He squeezes Shiro’s hand and Shiro squeezes his back. They’re together, in this and everything else. Forever.

The song weaves around them in the darkened kitchen, winding down as the piano and the singer draw to a close.

Shiro catches the last refrain, mouthing with the song, _for I can’t help falling in love with you._

It’s the boyish earnestness Shiro still has that does Keith in. He blushes hot and has to hide his face against Shiro’s. A wavering, thick emotion clogs his throat. It’s the same one he gets every time they’re together like this. He keeps expecting it to grow old, to be worn in by their day to day. But it hasn’t and Keith is starting to think maybe it won’t. Maybe he will always be this lovestruck.

Shiro laughs, besotted and drops one of his hands to wrap around Keith’s waist and hold him. It’s perfect, so perfect Keith thinks wildly that it can’t be real. He must be dreaming, he can’t possibly be this lucky.

But it is real. Keith can see it in the details. There’s a nick in the far cabinet door, the distant hum of the air kicking on, the tile beneath their feet is a little too cold.

The song changes over and it’s another soft melody. Something with a violin.

Shiro kisses his ear, the side of his face. They sway, cocooned inside the melody. Keith presses his lips to Shiro’s stubble, the handsome line of his jaw. 

It’s easy to get lost then. They slow dance, Shiro leading him through careful circles, their bare feet shuffling on the tile. With anyone else Keith would worry about his footing, about how he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

But he’s in Shiro’s arms, being guided by his steady hand, his soft kisses. Keith’s free hand has fallen to Shiro’s waist, and his fingers wiggle under the edge of the fabric.

Shiro’s skin is nice and warm. Always warm. There’s a raised end of a scar just there and Keith traces it idly, lovingly.

Shiro blows out a slow breath against his cheek. The hand on Keith’s waist squeezes.

When the next song starts and Keith has his heart a little more under control, he pulls back just so he can look at Shiro.

It’s a sight every time. He looks Keith over just as Keith looks at him. He hopes his face is half as expressive as Shiro’s is, that this man can see his love all over him.

They move moments more like this before coming together again. Their foreheads touch and Shiro’s mouth is so temptingly close.

Between them the heat rises and falls. They touch waists and bump noses, tensing and drawing it out. Without discussion it becomes a lazy game. They tempt one another, but it’s the sweetest kind of ache. It stretches out like a cat in the sun, content.

By the end of the next song their lips are just brushing. The air is hot, too thick to even breathe.

Or maybe that’s just the way Keith’s gone on this man. _Breathless. _

It’s then that Keith breaks. That his hand slips out of Shiro’s and reaches up. This time when he hooks his hands it’s to the back of Shiro’s neck. It’s to pull him that last breathless inch.

Shiro’s hands curl around him just as welcoming and when their lips do meet it's— 

_Be the lightning in me, that strikes relentless._

It’s from whatever song is playing, but Keith couldn’t put it better. His nails scrape through Shiro’s undercut and he kisses him, kisses him.

They move together easily when Shiro pushes, and Keith ends up pressed against the wall of their kitchen. That’s just fine with him because it’s surrounding. There’s only Shiro and it’s exactly what he wants.

He opens his mouth and meets Shiro’s heat with his own. Kissing him slow, dedicatedly, with every ounce of love in his fluttery heart.

They break for breathing, but it’s just barely that. They pant and trade pecks, barely giving up any space. Keith feels dizzy, but he has Shiro so it doesn’t matter.

Shiro meets his eyes, looks and looks. It’s so… close, so intimate. It’s always like this with him. Like their most tender insides have come to the surface to meet. To share kisses in a dim kitchen.

Keith runs a hand across and to Shiro’s ear. He traces the shape he knows by heart now, and then let’s his fingers dip lower. Shiro’s heart is beating there at his pulse-point, sure and steady.

Keith imagines that if they were to compare, they would be beating the same.

Shiro’s thumb rubs across his cheekbone, to the bottom of his lip. His eyes stay on Keith’s. For a second and more nothing happens, but Keith doesn’t mind. He would let it go on forever so long as Shiro kept looking at him like that.

Every love song, Keith realizes then, pales in comparison. There is nothing else like this. Shiro’s attention is a honey-sweet love that pours down Keith’s spine. It covers him warm and gentle, and ruins him for anything else that could ever try to compete. Keith’s seen more of the universe than most people, so he should very well know a singularity when he sees one.

Shiro goes on tracing his features. It’s something he does sometimes in bed, just looks and looks and touches with the utmost delicacy. It makes Keith feel precious, so he never interrupts, never tries to shorten the time Shiro wants to take. Shiro deserves it all, especially time, to spool out however he sees fit.

And it’s hardly a hardship to lie there and let Shiro trace him over with lovely affection.

When Shiro does comes back to himself, it's with a dazed smile. His hand moves absently to tuck a strand of Keith’s hair behind his ear. Keith’s cheeks ache from the smile he can’t seem to contain.

The metal hand drifts up and captures one of Keith’s. They twine together instantly. They fit together perfectly.

“Come,” Shiro says, so soft it’s more breath than air. “I got your favorite.”

He steps back to tug Keith from the wall, “You’re my favorite,” Keith says, almost falling back into his arms.

Shiro’s eyebrows go up as he steadies him. They look at each other, and before Keith can even think to feel mortified at that slipping out of his mouth, they both break into giggles like children.

Shiro leads him to the living room. Together they’re still tittering too fond and too silly, but Keith wouldn’t dream of trying to stop it.

In the end they do spend the rest of the evening curled up, sharing a dessert between them. In the background the music goes on, sweet and lovely, but a pale comparison to the taste and feeling of Shiro's mouth on his.

**Author's Note:**

> A songfic in my 2019? It's more likely than you think!
> 
> Just wanted some slow dance in the kitchen romance. If you liked it, leave me a comment or come scream with me about their love on twitter @an_aphorism.
> 
> (Featured lyrics are from Haley Reinhart, "Can't Help Falling in Love" and Snow Patrol, "The Lightning Strike".)


End file.
